Fourth Sunday of Lent: RUN TO ME …

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Fourth Sunday of Lent: RUN TO ME …

(March 10, 2024)

 

“Run to me whenever you’re lonely.

Run to me if you need a shoulder.”

 

Do you remember that line from the song “Run To Me” by the Bee Gees made popular during the 70s? I really do not know why, but after reading the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, I found myself humming the song in my head.

The Gospel narrates the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus emphasized “everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Further into the Gospel, Jesus said: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

 

(As a disclaimer, this is a personal reflection and not an exegesis because I am no Bible expert nor scholar. This is a product of a simple prayer and meditation on how the words of the Bible struck my thoughts and feelings.)

 

After reading the Gospel, I felt a deep sense of peace inside me. With all the things that are going on in my life – all the worries, the questions, even the anger and pain – I still feel a sense of serenity in my heart.

 


The words of the Gospel gave me an assurance that God is by my side. I do not have that mystical experience of God’s presence but the feeling of assurance that I am not alone…that in all the things that are going on, I am able to sleep well at night and wake up in the morning fresh and always ready to brew my coffee. The feeling of contentment amidst “disturbances” that are enough to shake me but instead I am at peace. That I have someone to run to every time I needed a shoulder to lean on, ears to listen, hands to hold. That in spite of my shortcomings and sinfulness, there is a God who forgives … a God who understands … a God who is compassionate … “My Lord and My God.”

 

This belief and experience of God’s presence by me offers a personal challenge. And the challenge is – how will I make God’s love and compassion to me manifest in my dealings with other people? How will I be God’s instrument of His love? How can I be His channel of forgiveness?

 

I do not have the answers now. But believing that God is always by my side, I am sure that He will whisper to me the ways that I can be His medium of mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness. I pray that He grants me the openness to accept the challenge and be His conduit of love and mercy that will continually flow from my heart despite its woundedness and tears.

 

Best of all, to live up to the challenge as well as to continue the peace that’s in my heart, I know that I have a God, who is loving and compassionate, to run to.

 


 

Acknowledgements:

·        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eus0p3ogjBA

·        https://www.ibelieve.com/faith/a-prayer-for-love.html

·        https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1JlmceRHTiPPDvhN1eZw6g


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